it puts mitt romney in a dead heat with president obama in the race for the white house. doug schoen and john leboutillier are with us. doug used to advise president clinton. john former republican congressman from new york. doug, to you first. how does romney maintain this momentum? >> this is a challenge. it is a revival. it is not in any way a fundamental alteration in a race that's always been close. it is closer still, but he's in the in the lead -- but he's not in the lead. he needs to outline clearly where he's going to take america, what his vision is and how most importantly dagen his agenda will impact and improve the lives of ordinary americans. dagen: let's focus short run. what about the vice presidential debate? is it more about gaining wins at this point in that debate and the remaining two presidential debates or not making a mistake? >> well, i think that if i'm ryan, i'm going to try to go to biden, who i think can make a mistake. they are really preparing biden very heavily for this thing. i would try to make some news to reinforce the feeling that mayb